Categorizing Instructional Technologies - Post 2

I really enjoyed learning about the different instructional technologies available to teachers in the classroom and working with my group to make our categorized list. It really made me think about all the resources available to me. Sometimes I get so caught up in the content that I forget all the resources I have available to differinciate my instruction for my students. Technology definitely lends itself to change instruction to meet all students learning needs.
Just finishing my second year of teaching, I still have a lot to learn in order to be the best teacher I can be for my students, especially in the field of technology. I am learning how to use a blog on a weekly basis and how to make my interactive website accessable for my students and their parents. I want the work I do with my website to be useful to my students and something they can use daily in their learning endeavors.
I also learned some new technologies I did not know were even available like Kidspiration and Photoshop. I knew about Photoshop but I did not think of a way I could use this in my classroom until a fellow classmate incorporated it in her list of technologies. I then explored the program and thought what a wonderful resource it would be for students to know and understand how to download pictures and change it to fit the need of what they are doing. This is a skill they will use when they reach upper grades for research projects or just in everyday living. It is a great skill students need to be acquaited to for future learning to take place with powerpoints and website design. Kidspiration is also a great tool to use in the classroom. This program allows integration within the curriculum with making webs for prewriting activities in Language Arts, a compare and contrast map in Science, or a journey map of Pioneers for Social Studies. It is a great resource that I plan to use next year as much as possible.
It is our job as teachers to involve our students with all types of technology in order for them to be successful in today's society. If I do not teach them, I feel like I have done them a disservice and not done my job.
I cannot wait to continue learning about more instructional technologies available to me and learning from my classmates on how they use technology in their own classrooms.